


Quarantined Together

by GenerallyHuxurious (GallifreyanOmnishambles)



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Bickering, Breakfast, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gratuitous Robe References, Homoromantic, Huddling For Warmth, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Isolation, Jedi Training, Just Add Kittens, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren Has a Big Dick, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, M/M, Meditation, Misunderstandings, Naked Cuddling, Nudity, Penis Size, Penis jokes, Penises, Platonic Kissing, Platonic Romance, Poor Dopheld Mitaka, Psychic Abilities, Quarantine, Sexual Identity, Sexuality Crisis, Sharing a Bed, Showers, Slow Romance, Telepathy, That's Not How The Force Works, They're Naked For Most Of The Fic, it'll make sense if you read it - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 09:38:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12318435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GallifreyanOmnishambles/pseuds/GenerallyHuxurious
Summary: After an accident on another ship Hux and Kylo are forced to spend five days locked up in quarantine together. Expect all the tropes of a good old locked-up-together fic but with one difference- Hux has no interest in Kylo, at least not in the way Kylo is used to...Kylo might just learn something about himself in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The original intent of this fic was to flip the tropes (shared showers, big dicked Kylo, huddling for warmth, robes etc etc) on their head with an asexual pairing, but this turned into a comedic romance along the way. The working title for this was 'Singing The Big Dick Blues', and frankly that sets the tone for the fic. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it.

Surprisingly, it wasn't actually Ren’s fault.

Repeating that phrase like a mantra in the privacy of his own head seemed like the only way Hux might keep his sanity.

In personal terms the situation was beyond embarrassing, but at least the professional humiliation and punishment would fall squarely on Commander Helne shoulders. After all it was Helne’s crew that had slipped so far with the standard sanitation protocols that they’d exposed the two highest ranking officers in the fleet to a potentially deadly virus. 

Hux felt his mind skitter away from ‘deadly’. It did not want to consider that particular little detail. In fact it didn’t want to consider anything about the situation other than the inevitable court martial of everyone involved. 

Helne would pay for this mess. 

Preferably after Hux and Ren were released from their five day quarantine so Hux could enjoy the look on Helne’s face when the firing squad took aim...

Five days trapped in a single sterile room with Kylo Ren. Even if the virus didn’t kill him they might well kill each other. Or at least drive one another mad.

It wasn’t actually Ren’s fault, he told himself again as he stuffed his uniform into the incinerator chute. For once- for possibly the first time in a five year working relationship- it wasn’t actually Ren’s fault. Ren would be suffering just as much as Hux.

Hux glanced across the room at Ren’s back. No, he probably wasn’t suffering quite as much as Hux.

Being forced to strip naked while being monitored by a subordinate was already humiliating enough- being forced to strip naked next to a man built like a rancor added an extra level of misery. 

Every last scrap of Hux’ self esteem issues from the previous thirty four years decided to rear up once more in a tidal wave of negativity. Too thin, too weak, too delicate, too…

Hux forced down the words that were mostly spoken in his father’s voice and concentrated on his posture. It helped sometimes to focus on every muscle in turn, working from the feet up until he was standing with perfect alignment. He ran through the exercise almost every day on the bridge and it was welcome act of grounding, though he kept his hands clasped in front of him now rather than resting them against his back.

There really was no reason to expose his genitals more than absolutely necessary. He’d shared the communal showers his entire life, and Lieutenant Mitaka from his own crew had volunteered to monitor the process, but still… there was something about Ren’s strange presence that made Hux unwilling to reveal himself in that way.

Ren was often crude when he felt there was an advantage to such language. 

Hux had no wish to give Ren any additional information to use against him. 

Glancing over again Hux was glad to see that Ren was waiting for the decontamination shower with his back mostly turned towards him. His hands hung loosely at his sides so he wasn’t actively covering himself, but he was at least reducing the amount of exposure. 

The door finally hissed open to reveal an unwelcome sight. There was only one decontamination shower.

“After you.” Hux said with a nod of his head. 

The intercom crackled on above them. Mitaka coughed nervously before he managed to speak. “Sirs, I’m afraid you’ll both have to bathe at the same time or the process won’t be effective.”

Hux gave the ceiling a look of irritation and hoped that Mitaka saw the expression. 

That was all this day needed. The shower looked like it would be barely large enough for two standard sized officers and now he was expected to squeeze in there with Kylo Ren of all people. 

He huffed irritably through his nose.

“Sirs?”

There really was no other option. Unless he wanted to risk the disease.

Tempting. At this stage death might well be...

The thought was interrupted when Ren reached out for him without looking around, one unfairly massive hand closing on Hux’ bicep to propel him forward with unexpected gentleness.

Irritated that Ren had taken the decision for them, Hux pulled free and strode proudly into the shower, in so far as it was possible to stride while still awkwardly cupping one’s genitals, which is in fact- not at all. 

That aspect did rather spoiled the effect of the stride, but at least getting ahead of Ren meant that Hux could take up a position close to the showerheads on the far wall. With his back firmly turned to the Knight he could almost pretend that the other man wasn’t there.

The door hissed shut and an overwhelming roar battered his senses for an instant. He knew from years of training that it was just the first room being heat treated before the water came on, but it still made him jump a little. He hoped Ren hadn’t noticed.

A breath later and the Hux was driven back by the force of the water jets. 

He hadn’t a hope of keeping his footing. 

Apparently Ren was just as helpless as they tumbled awkwardly together back-to-back. 

It felt strange to be pressed against warm naked flesh in these circumstances. A small part of him reminded Hux that physical contact could be pleasant before it was overruled by the horrified majority of his brain. This wasn’t a partner in his own personal fresher, this was a barely tolerated coworker in a medical facility.

There was a moment of respite as the jets cycled upwards to rinse their hair, and Hux took the opportunity to push away from his equally startled companion.  

He hadn’t meant to look. He really hadn’t. But they both pushed back at once and the movement caught his eye while his brain was full of adrenaline, and… 

What the fuck was that?!

“Emperors bloody bones Ren!” Hux gasped, clutching at his chest in fright. “I thought you were trying to sneak a huttlet in here or something!!” 

Ren looked down at the  _ thing  _ hanging between his thighs. To call it a penis would be doing a disservice to every other human member in the galaxy. It was practically a fifth limb.

Hux covered his eyes with his other hand. He had genuinely thought it was… well, he didn’t know what he’d thought but if his heartrate didn’t slow down soon he’d probably have a coronary. 

The door to the quarantine chamber opened behind him. Hux turned and scurried through it, hoping for a moment to recover himself from that absolutely mortifying reaction. He’d practically screamed at the sight of unusual anatomy, what a ridiculous thing to do, Ren must be so embarrassed...

Ren sighed heavily as he followed him into the room with languid steps. “I suppose you want to have sex with me now?”

“What?” Hux blinked, entirely baffled. “No! Get your ego under control, Ren.”

Despite the rejection Ren was still casually stroking himself with a bored expression.

Hux looked away, feeling his cheeks redden with embarrassment that they were going to have to have this conversation already. The room was tiny, hardly more than two molded bunks projecting from the blank walls, with a screened off latrine area and very little else. 

If they were going to have to live in such close quarters with no relief from one another there would have to be ground rules.

“Stop that!” Hux said, gesturing at Ren’s hand. 

Instead of complying Ren just sighed again. “Can we not do this?”

“That’s precisely  _ my _ point! I said, stop it!” 

Again, a heavy sigh like Ren had all the worries of the galaxy were on his broad shoulders and not just his ridiculously oversized cock in his hand. 

“ _ That _ is what I mean.” He said. “Let’s not do that. Don’t play coy. It’s torture when people pretend they don’t want to fuck, then sit there agonising about it for hours until they talk themselves into admitting to it. Lets just get it out of the way now. I’m sure you’d rather spend three days limping and bitching about your ass in here where no one can see, instead of doing that on the bridge.”

Hux felt like he was having a stroke. Or he’d accidentally ingested psychotropic drugs. Was this the first sign of the virus? A sense of absolutely unreality? Or perhaps Ren was the one going mad? Did the virus cause a sudden uptick in libido combined with a total failure of judgement?

“What. The. Fuck.” He said it slowly and cautiously like the words might come out wrong in the same way that Ren’s had. Hearing that they sounded correct he repeated them again, louder and more angrily. “What the actual fuck, Ren?!”

Hux waved at the ceiling, rage overtaking his humiliation. 

“We’re still being monitored,  _ Ren _ !” He said, emphasising the honourific in the hope of snapping his colleague out of this madness.

“I...uh I can turn the audio off if you like, Sir!” Mitaka added helpfully.

“Don’t you dare, Lieutenant!” Hux spat. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Ren?! ‘Get it out of the way’? How big is your ego that you imagine anyone trapped alone with you would instantly want to have sex with you?”

Ren shrugged. He’d stopped touching himself at least but he just stood there, looking slightly lost. “Everyone always does.” He gestured at the half engorged member jutting awkwardly in front of him. “They see this and they get curious. They want to know what it feels like.”

That might be the stupidest thing Hux had ever heard. 

Then again he’d often found other people to be strange about sex. How often had Phasma brought stormtroopers to him on fraternisation charges where their only defense was ‘they couldn’t help themselves’? 

Hux scrubbed at his face in exasperation and turned away. 

“Well, I don’t want to have sex with you, so you’ll just have to…” Hux waved his hand awkwardly. He didn’t know how to end that sentence. He’d had partners in the past who masturbated, but he really didn’t want to give Ren blanket permission to do it in his presence. Not when the latrine was only behind a screen. 

“You're serious.” Ren said from four inches behind his right ear. 

Hux managed not to jump, though he practically strained his stomach muscles to avoid it.

“What do you mean?! Of course I am!”

“But, you like men…”

He blinked hard and swatted at Ren’s hand when he poked a finger at his forehead, like he could better read Hux’ thoughts through physical contact.

“Get out of my head!”

“I’m not in it,” Ren muttered defensively, “You’re just loud when you’re upset.”

“Fine. I like men. I like sharing my life and my bed with men. Just… not my body.” Hux paused, weighing whether it was worth qualifying that assertion since Ren had just admitted to skimming his thoughts. He’d probably sense the untruth in it and make things even more difficult. “Not beyond kissing and cuddling, anyway.” He added quietly.

Ren smirked slightly though his eyes still seemed unsettled. Clearly he was too accustomed to wearing his mask during their verbal sparring. 

“I can't believe I just heard the great General Hux say ‘cuddling’. It's not a word that's sits well with the Imperial accent.”

“Fuck you.” Hux said flatly. He really shouldn’t have bothered trying to talk to Ren sensibly.

That was a mistake. 

Suddenly Ren’s face brightened with a look of misplaced enlightenment. 

“Oh you prefer to be on top! Rare, most men can't resist the thought of getting this up their ass…” He continued thoughtfully, “but I suppose I can let you fuck me. Prostate massage is the only way I can get off anyway.”

That was ten thousand percent more information than Hux had _ ever  _ wanted to know about Kylo Ren. That was frankly more information that he wanted to know about anyone.

“No!” He spat in a hurried attempt to stop Ren sharing any more lurid details about his sex life. “I do not want to fuck you! I do not want to be fucked by you. No one in this decontamination chamber is being fucked, do I make myself clear?”

Somewhere above their heads the speakers whistled slightly as Mitaka hit the mute button. 

This was probably the most humiliating day of his entire life, Hux thought to himself. He turned away from Ren and trudged over to one of the bunks. 

“If you don't believe me look into my mind,” He said wearily as he sat down. “Look at whatever you like, just… don’t ever tell me anything like that ever again.”

Ren stood in the middle of the room for far too long, his face flushed with confused embarrassment and his hands flexing at his side as he stared at Hux.

When it became clear that he wasn’t going to say anything else Hux lay down on his back and covered his eyes with his forearm. Ren could have all the existential crisis he liked, if Hux had the opportunity to sleep he was going to take it.

* * *

“You don’t feel sexual attraction.”

Hux wasn’t sure how long he’d slept before Ren’s statement woke him, but he knew he’d had strange dreams. Perhaps they’d been the side effect of Ren pawing through his memories.

So many things he’d forgotten about until now. Solitary fumblings at the academy; the first partners he’d been with in an experimental attempt to see if his feelings could be bypassed; the men he’d shared his life with since- all flashing past his mind’s eye like index cards.

He’d always thought having Ren so deep into his mind would be painful. The process had always seemed to hurt the prisoners who’d gone through an interrogation with Ren, but Hux just felt oddly tired, like he’d run a marathon.

“No, I don’t.” He replied with his arm with over his eyes. “So?”

“But you still get aroused?”

Hux shrugged awkwardly. He wouldn’t have really called it arousal. It was more of an autonomic function and seemed to happen mostly in his sleep or shortly after waking. He’d heard once that it was beneficial for the prostate so he just assumed it was something his body had decided it wanted. It didn’t happen often.

He glanced at the other bunk. 

Ren was laid on his back, frowning at the ceiling. He looked for all the world as if he was trying to solve an equation.

“Sexual attraction is more about looking at a specific person or type and becoming aroused because of them,” Hux said after a moment of silence. “Being aroused by itself is just… nerve endings.”

“I can feel it.” 

Hux felt himself frown at the non sequitur, Ren could feel what exactly? Hux certainly wasn’t aroused right now. Angry, tired, irritable, but not…

“In communal showers, before I became Ky… a Knight… before I joined the Order, I spent six years in various training programs where we were expected to use communal showers.” Ren said, apparently speaking to the ceiling. “I wasn’t exaggerating or boasting before. The first time I stepped into the pilots’ showers I felt this overwhelming desire. Everyone wanted me, even the ones who preferred women seemed fascinated by it.”

“People were hypnotised by your penis?” Hux asked with an amused snort. What a strange concept.

“It felt like that, yes.” 

Ren sighed.

“And I was hypnotised by them.” He went on. “They wanted me. It was so strong, so huge in my mind. I couldn’t… not.”

Hux suddenly felt guilty for his amusement. Was Ren actually saying what Hux thought he was saying?

“I haven’t shared a shower in years, not until today,” Ren continued, apparently not noticing that Hux wasn’t responding. “But the Knights of Ren have rituals that involve nudity and a great deal of contact. I’ve fucked them all. They say it brings us closer together.”

“So, if someone wants to fuck you, you just… do?” He wasn’t sure why he was asking Ren questions about this, but the man seemed to need someone to talk to, and Hux might as well making it a conversation before it became a monologue.

“I… I never really thought about it until now, I thought that I was feeling something for them even though the idea wasn’t appealing when they were gone. I thought I was shallow and just attracted to aesthetics but what if I was just feeling an echo of their desire?”

Hux hadn’t ever experienced it but he could extrapolate from his past partners what it felt like. “You never thought ‘hey we should do that again!’ after they left?”

Ren shrugged, then reached up to tug at his hair. “Mostly I was just glad to be on my own. Sometimes I missed  _ them _ … their conversation, or the way their hair smelled, or hearing their opinions on the new X-Wings, or… I don’t know.” His words were coming slower now, as if he were dredging them from some deep dark well. “I suppose I never thought, ‘yes I want to get naked and sticky with this person’ until they were in front of me.”

“That might be the most apt description of sex I’ve ever heard,” Hux said, unsure what else to say. He wondered if Ren was reaching the same conclusion he had. He wasn’t sure he wanted to raise it.

They lay on opposite sides of the room in silence for so long that Hux thought Ren had fallen asleep until he spoke again.

“You’ve been in relationships.” 

It wasn’t a question. Ren had seen all of Hux’ personal history it seemed, so there was no point not admitting to it.

“I enjoy… having a man in my life.” Hux said at last, painfully aware that Mitaka would still be monitoring them. “Waking up with another body beside me, sharing caf, planning a day. Mundane, I suppose, but that's what I value. It makes the work a little easier.”

Ren made an acknowledging noise at that, but didn’t say anything else.

“You were inside my head, Ren, there’s probably nothing you can ask that would offend me at this point.”

“No sex though?”

“No. Not since the academy anyway. There was a time when I was still finding my feet, as a person I mean, but I know who I am now. Some people will tell you that you can’t know if you like something until you’ve tried it.” Hux grinned nastily to himself. “Oddly enough if you offer to set them on fire they never want to try  _ that _ .”

Hux had never heard Ren laugh before. If he’d ever been asked to imagine it he certainly wouldn’t have chosen that odd gasping half-hidden chuckle. 

The sound was somehow endearing. 

Glancing across Hux saw the edge of a wide toothy smile. After all Ren’s earlier intensity it was an unexpectedly human expression.

“With rank comes responsibility, and that reduces the pool of romantic candidates- an officer has to choose their partners with care. But there have been a few. One died, one was transferred…”

“One left you.”

Hux felt his face twitch into something like a smile at that. Perhaps that wasn’t the response Ren expected but… 

“We’d run our course,” Hux said when Ren rolled on his side to look at him properly. What could Hux say that wasn’t giving away secrets that weren’t his? A lot had changed between their first meeting and the end. Dopheld had wanted a family, and more physicality. “I believe he fell for Dex before we officially separated, but I hold him no illwill. They have a child now, and he's more confident than he ever was with me. We loved each other but… I wasn’t what he wanted.”

“You trust him though. I can feel that, you trust him like I trust my Knights.”

“I’d trust Lieutenant Mitaka with my life if that’s what you mean.”

There was the quiet hum of the speakers activating again but it was a moment or two before Mitaka actually spoke. “Sirs, would you rather I mute this conversation?”

Ren laughed again, turning his face towards the bunk as if that would hide his mirth from their observer. 

Hux might not have any animosity against Dopheld Mitaka or his spouse but he couldn’t resist the urge to tease him every once in awhile. He could practically hear the blush in his voice.

He wondered how the poor man would react if he ever found out that the memories Ren had seen of their relationship mostly involved Dopheld singing to himself, or the frequent sotto voce arguments he’d had with the caf maker in their quarters.

Perhaps he’d save that fact for some other time when Dopheld wasn’t in charge of keeping him alive.

“I suppose you can if you like now, Lieutenant,” Hux said. “If that’s okay with you, Ren?”

The other man shrugged. “I don’t care, he’s not hearing anything anyone else will believe, and if he ever  _ does _ tell anyone….” He cracked his knuckles as his words trailed off.

“Please don’t threaten my crew without good cause,” Hux sighed. 

“We  _ are _ co-commanders, General.”

“They were still my crew first.”

“You sound like a child.”

“Hilarious, coming from you.”

Ren made a rude gesture in his direction, then sat up, announcing that he intended to meditate. Hux had heard that the Jedi engaged in such practices but he’d never imagined that someone as hot tempered and irritable as Ren would be able to manage it. 

Still, Ren settled into the stereotypical cross legged pose. Thanks to Ren’s nudity it was much, much less dignified than one might expect. It seemed that Ren didn't want to put up with the cold bunk against his privates, so he'd arranged his member to rest on his crossed calves.

The huttlet comparison flittered across Hux’ mind again. With a slightly distressed gagging noise he rolled onto his side and faced the wall. 

Hux dozed once more, lulled to sleep by the sound of Kylo’s even breathing. Despite their nudity and all their previous professional antagonism Hux felt entirely safe in his presence. How long had it been since he’d felt like that with anyone?

* * *

He dreamed he was back in his quarters, lounging length ways across his couch.

Unlike the hard plasteel of the quarantine bunks the cushions under his back were wonderfully soft and yielding. He was wearing his silk robe- a rare indulgence bought on the occasion of his last promotion- and regulation shorts. There was a tumbler of brandy in one hand, a datapad in the other, and his ginger cat asleep on his lap. 

In the typical way of dreams Hux didn’t think the cat was an odd detail, even though his last cat had passed away a year ago and he’d never owned one this colour. She felt right and so his mind accepted her. 

She was purring against his stomach. 

Why wouldn’t he accept something so perfect?

Huge warm hands closed around his ankles. He panicked for a moment as his legs were lifted, then Kylo slipped into the space beneath his feet and lowered them again.

“You’re late.” Hux said, though he had no idea how he knew that or what Kylo might be late for since Hux himself was just relaxing in his own quarters.

With a grumpy noise at the back of his throat Kylo summoned a datapad to his fingers with the Force and activated the large holo-display against the far wall. 

The holo crackled into life, resolving into the wood fire holding screen that Kylo had always preferred. Some part of his mind wondered how he knew that detail, but the rest of him was warm and comfortable so it didn’t seem to matter.

Kylo placed a hand on the cat’s back, startling a sleepy ‘meep’ from her before the purring restarted at a great intensity. 

The fake fire crackled, the cat purred, the work flowed under his fingers. 

It was… restful.

* * *

Hux woke at his own speed this time, rising slowly out of the deep kind of sleep that left his muscles feeling like so much jelly.

He shouldn’t have been this relaxed for a man in quarantine. Even the persistent low level ache he carried in his jaw and around his eyes had eased, and that had been a presence in his life since the day he made Colonel. 

Ren was asleep on the other bunk, sitting up in his cross legged position with his chin on his chest. That could not be comfortable. He’d get terrible pain in his neck and likely be a ghastly companion for the rest of the day. If Hux just gently tipped him over...

Hux was on his feet and reaching toward the other man before his common sense halted him. 

A highly trained fighter, startled into wakefulness by a man he wasn’t expecting to touch his naked skin? That couldn’t possibly end well for Hux.

He could speak to him of course, wake him like Ren had woken himself the day before, but the man looked exhausted. Speaking suggested a conversation, conversation offered no chance to go back to sleep, sleep… 

“For fucks sake, Armitage, you’re not planning a siege,” Hux hissed to himself in irritation at his overthinking the situation. He always did when he was out of sorts. Terrible habit.

In the end he settled for gently touching Kylo’s hair, somewhere near the temple. Hux hadn’t known his mother for long, but he knew that was a standard gesture of comfort that the body was likely to welcome rather than reject. It also had the advantage of not being skin. 

“Mmmm?” Kylo rumbled sleepily, turning his head towards the contact.

Hux whispered, “Lay down.” 

“...’kay.” 

With that Kylo flopped gracelessly onto his side and instantly began to snore. Apparently sleeping on cold, hard surfaces didn’t bother him. Not for the first time Hux wondered what his training actually entailed. 

He certainly had a lot of scars. But didn’t they all?

Hux washed as best he could at the tiny sink, forced down half a tube of protein paste, and then realised he had absolutely nothing to do.

Quarantine rules dictated that there was to be no access to the computer banks for any reason. Even entirely standalone electrical items weren’t permitted after a stormtrooper infected with a brain parasite had disable the door mechanisms using an obsolete datapad.

No writing materials in case they used them for violence against themselves or others. No clothing for much the same reason. 

Even the observers weren’t permitted to engage beyond a certain level of basic discourse since there was a risk of persuasion one way or the other.

For the first time in… hell, probably for the first time in his living memory Hux had nothing at all to do. 

He had hundreds of jobs waiting for him, so many tasks and plans and schemes that would be suffering for his absence but, right now, right here, there was nothing. 

Meditation briefly crossed his mind but he dismissed it. What did he have to meditate on?

“You could try to quiet your mind,” Ren said, his speech thick and slurred with sleep. “You’re too damn loud.”

Hux blinked at him. “You don’t have to listen.”

“It’s like the beating of a drum two metres from your head- you don’t have to listen but you can’t help but hear.” Ren smiled a little though his eyes stayed closed. “That’s why it’s so easy to rile you up on the bridge. Your mind highlights all your hot buttons in neon lights. You should thank the stars that I’m the only Force user you’re ever likely to meet.”

Interesting. Hux hadn’t ever considered the matter. The Force wasn’t his concern, but the contents of his mind should be his own.

“Show me.”

* * *

Meditation had not gone well, not the static kind that Kylo had used before.

Hux found that he couldn’t stop focusing on his body, adjusting his posture or his breathing or the places where his skin stuck painfully together. Speaking of pain, Hux lacked the natural padding that cushioned Kylo’s bones from the hard surface of the bunks. Hux was already beginning to bruise along his ribs and hips just from sleeping on it, he didn’t much want bruises on his arse as well.

After forty five minutes of staring at the space to the left of Kylo’s head and hating his own body, Hux had sighed, gotten up, and stretched. Stretching felt good, so he’d run through all the less extravagant stretches he’d learned as a boy studying imperial martial arts.

Kylo watched him, disappointed at first but then with growing interest.

“Where did you learn that?” He asked, sliding down from his own bunk to observe from a different angle.

“The Academy.” Hux shrugged. “A few older Imperials taught me a thing or two before I started my formal training so I was in the advanced classes.”

“But what is it?”

“Imperial martial arts.” Hux was incredulous, momentarily forgetting that Ren hadn’t been raised in the fleet like he had. 

“For hand-to-hand combat?” Kylo smirked. “I didn’t think you had it in you, General. How about some sparring? It looks a like the older forms the Jedi used, perhaps the Emperor had a hand in it.”

Hux looked at Kylo, then pointedly looked around the tiny room. There was barely sixty centimetres between the two bunks. 

“If you want to kill me, Ren, you can just snap my neck now and save us both the trouble.”

Surprisingly Kylo looked offended at that. He crossed his arms over his unnecessarily large chest and actually pouted. 

“I don’t want hurt you, I just want to see your form.” 

“You forget that I don’t have the Force. it doesn’t matter how good I am, you’ll always win.”

The pouting bottom lip was sucked inward and chewed on for a moment as Kylo considered the matter. 

“Are there practice sets?” He asked eventually. “Poses you can perform without an opponent?”

Hux stared down at the floor, and his own scarred, skinny feet. They looked ridiculous so close to Ren’s, just as long but half as wide, all wiry tendons and not much else.

“Of course, but why would you be interested when you have all your mystic Force training to fall back on?” 

Kylo made a thoughtful noise when Hux looked up to observe the reaction on that unexpectedly open face. He shrugged, and every muscle moved in turn like a well oiled machine. It was fascinating, but mostly it reminded Hux of his own narrow frame and all the years he’d spent trying to improve it to no avail.

“You’re bored,” Kylo said, “You’re bored, and you’re not used to being bored. You can’t meditate sitting still, but maybe I can teach you to meditate through movement. At the very least it’s something to do that that isn’t being bored.”

Hux rankled at the accusation of boredom, mostly because it was true, but he had no argument against it. They really didn’t have anything better to do.

Sighing heavily, he pushed Kylo back onto his bunk and moved into the opening pose for the first set.

* * *

His shins might never recover.

He’d swear that they were so badly bruised that the bones themselves were dented. Officer’s boots were reinforced for a reason.

Hux sat groaning on his bunk, rubbing at his bruises, and cursing Kylo Ren with his mind. 

Four hours of practice they’d done with hardly a break. First Hux had taken Ren through as much as he could in the space provided, then Ren had shown him the variations and additions that made up his own fighting style. Hux wished they’d saved it for a gym. It would have been fine in a gym, it would have been a fantastically educational experience that would not have resulted in him accidentally kicking one bunk or the other with every third move. 

Ren might have been the taller of them, but Hux had the longer limbs and the slightly better reach. He also had much less practice and didn’t have the Force to magically protect him from his surroundings. 

“You know, you call me Ren when you’re upset,” the man in question said, holding out the remains of the protein tube Hux had opened earlier.

“What else would I call you?!” 

“You’d started calling me Kylo in your head,” he replied bashfully, “I was beginning to like it.”

Hux had never imagined that he’d see Kylo looking anything like so vulnerable as this- the blush across his cheeks and running down his chest seemed like something that should be forbidden. 

He looked away and ate his protein staring at the wall. 

Kylo went quiet too, eating three tubes of the horrible paste one after the other with every sign of enjoyment. Hux wondered if he should check the supplies. He probably couldn’t starve in just four days, but it wouldn’t make the rest of their captivity all that pleasant.

“May I ask a question?” 

If anyone had told Hux that Ren would be speaking to him so politely a week ago he’d probably have laughed himself sick. Even now he still felt some suspicion that the whole thing was the symptom of an illness and everything that had happened so far was an hallucination. 

“I suppose. My opinion has never stopped you so far.” Hux replied.

“Kissing.”

“That isn’t a question. It’s a statement.”

Kylo sighed. Glancing up at him Hux realised he was blushing again.

“I meant, you said you liked kissing, but you don’t feel attraction.” Kylo said. “I’ve never kissed anyone unless I was having sex with them so…”

“So, what?” Hux asked flatly. He did not want to have this conversation with Ren, not here. He shouldn’t have allowed himself to get so familiar the day before. Now he was being accused of… what exactly? Ren was watching him with that open facial expression again. 

Hux tried to push the sudden feeling of animosity down. Why was this bothering him so much when it had been nearly a decade since he’d last discussed it with someone who wasn’t a romantic partner?

“I don’t know if you had parents but my mother used to kiss me when I was very small. I know it’s a standard form of affection amongst humans. Some people kiss their friends. Hell, some even kiss their pets.”

“I don't know why you're using that judgemental tone, you used to kiss your cats.”

Hux glared at him. That was something even Mitaka had never witnessed. “Did you leave any part of my life unturned? Or did you paw through every little detail?”

“I looked for important relationships,” Kylo said, not meeting his eye. “Your cats came far above your father.”

Uncomfortable silence filled the tiny room. Kylo had probably seen Brendol’s death then. Hux wondered if that knowledge changed anything. Probably not. The Knights of Ren weren't Sith, but they were a brutal bunch…

“So, you kiss people like you kiss your cats?” Kylo asked when the quiet became too much for him to bear. “Because you like them?”

His legs hurt, he was tired, and he was sick of being forensically examined by a man who'd somehow studied his life but taken in nothing about it. “I'm not here as a sounding board for your identity crisis, Ren. I am more than just my preferences, and you are a colleague, nothing more.” 

Kylo looked hurt, though his posture was closer to the looming menace of their frequent arguments.

Hux wondered if that bright-eyed lip trembling expression was always on Ren’s face when he tilted his head just so. It might be useful to imagine him that way during future confrontations…

“We aren't  _ here  _ for anything other than quarantine,” Kylo said sulkily, his bottom lip disappearing between his teeth once more. “But fine, if you want to change the subject, what  _ do  _ you want to talk about?”

Hux considered turning his back on the irritating man and trying to sleep again, but something he'd said before intrigued him.

“You mentioned X-Wings earlier, and I've heard from the wing commanders that you go out on maneuvers sometimes?” 

Kylo brightened a little and leaned forward in his own seat, launching into a series of questions about Hux’ own knowledge of aviation. It wasn't his specialty, but Hux knew enough to hold his own, even through the more technical parts of the discussion. From there the conversation wandered, touching on the developments at Starkiller Base; the First Order’s supply issues and Hux’ solutions; Ren’s early training and the physics of his lightsaber. 

Hux was so absorbed by the surprisingly interesting discourse that he didn't remember when Ren had mentioned X-Wings until they both laid down to sleep a few hours later. It had been one of the few things Ren had missed about having a lover.

* * *

 

“Hux? Are you awake?”

He was. He had been for at least an hour, staring blankly into the artificial darkness of the night cycle. 

His body just wasn't used to more than seven hours sleep in every twenty eight. Hell, he'd been running on six hours and a power nap for months. His body should have appreciated the extra rest. 

Instead he was antsy and unable to bring his thoughts under control without any work to hold his attention. There was so much he should have been doing. It made his stomach twist in knots.

“Yes.”

“I wasn't sure if you were having a nightmare.”

“No, just… I don’t often have time like this, to think.”

Kylo made a vague humming noise in his chest. The sound vanished under a squeak that Hux recognised as skin on plasteel after a moment. Kylo was rolling over in the dark to face him. 

“I try to meditate, when my thoughts get too much.”

A hollow laugh was all Hux could do in response to that. They already knew he couldn’t do that. Not the way Kylo did.

“Mmm…it doesn’t always work for me either.” Kylo admitted. “What is it?”

“I thought you could read my mind?” 

“It’s all numbers. It means nothing to me.”

Hux pressed the heels of his hands against his eye sockets. “It’s work.” He said at last before he sighed in agitation. “This is unacceptable. You can say you’re the only Force user I’ll ever encounter, but you can’t promise that. Data that means nothing to you might ruin us in the wrong hands.”

“What’s the strongest thing you know of?”

The question made no sense, but at least it derailed the rising frustration at his own brain and focused it all on Ren.

“What? The strongest in terms of what exactly? Weight bearing? Shock absorption? Elasticity? Heat endurance?” Hux rolled to face Ren as well, even though he couldn’t see him in the dark. It felt better somehow to face the source of his irritation.

“Just focus on whatever quality you associate with the word ‘strength’,” Kylo said with a sigh. “Some people imagine an ocean, because water can wear down mountains. Ice. Fire. The chemical composition of neuranium. A growing tree tearing up the foundation of an ancient temple. It has to be something simple enough that the image can stay with you, but complex enough that there’s no obvious toehold.”

“Ren, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“If you can’t quiet your thoughts perhaps you can keep them guarded.” Kylo replied as if that were the simplest concept in the world. 

“Something strong, but not easy to break through?”

“I heard a pilot once recommend building a wall around your thoughts. I was only a child but it was obvious that a wall has foundations and mortar. Things that are easily broken. A matrix of carbon molecules on the other hand, no matter how much you tear away it can continue infinitely in every direction.”

“Nothing is infinite.” It was an obvious retort born of frustration with this ridiculous conversation. Hux wished he’d stayed asleep so he didn’t have to listen to this nonsense monologue.

“In your mind it can be. You control all the dimensions.”

Hux snorted and rolled away. The concept was as ridiculous as the Force.

“Suit yourself.” Kylo said quietly into the dark. 

Hux didn’t bother to reply. If he felt a soft pressure against his hairline, it was probably just his imagination.

* * *

Another morning. Another half tube of protein. Another desultory wash at the sink. Another four hours of martial arts drills.

What else was there to do?

When they’d first arrived Ren had made a lewd joke about limping his way out of here, but at this rate Hux felt sure he’d fracture a shin against the damn bunks before the quarantine was over. His legs were so bruised he almost looked like he was wearing boots. It was pathetic.

Still, it felt good to move.

“Your thoughts get quieter when you fight.” Kylo observed as they shifted through a sequence of two person blocks and attacks. “They’re more ordered, quieter. Fewer things vying for attention.”

“So the solution is to live in a state of feline like readiness?” Hux laughed at the mental image of approaching every day like it was a fist fight.

“Based on the cats you’ve owned I think that would mostly involve sleeping and demanding food.”

Hux made a rude gesture at the Knight but lost his defences in the process. A minute later he was facedown on the floor with Kylo’s knee in his back. Kylo was even heavier than he looked. 

“Sirs?” Mitaka’s worried voice echoed from the ceiling but Hux didn’t care, he’d make Ren pay.

He’d almost forgotten their nudity, but Kylo’s testicles were hanging just there above Hux’ hip. He couldn’t reach them with his hands, but he’d worked hard for this flexibility. 

“Ah! Fuck!!!” Ren leapt away as if burnt, clutching at his genitals with a look of indignation. “How the fuck did you do that, you weasley…”

“ _ SIRS! THERE IS TO BE NO VIOLENCE IN QUARANTINE! _ ” Mitaka shouted in that very rare tone of voice that meant he was both frightened and angry. 

Hux immediately rolled onto his back and held his hands out wide to show they were empty. 

Kylo did the same, though it took him a moment to catch on.

“Thank you,” Mitaka said. He sounded sheepish, but he still continued to address them like they were first year cadets caught fighting in the dorms. “I could permit the drills because they involved no actual harm, but Armitage you can’t kick your co-commander in the testicles, and Ren you can’t pin the General like that.”

“I still don’t know  _ how _ he managed to kick me.” Ren muttered.

“I have to ask you sit on your own bunks for two hours.” Mitaka went on. “No physical contact. You need to prove you’re not succumbing to aggressive urges.” 

Hux sighed but clambered back onto his bunk without protest. He did not want to be incinerated or spaced because a game had gotten out of hand.

“I apologise, Ren.”

His words got little more than a nod as Ren took his own place opposite him. 

“Will you tell us when the two hours are up?” Kylo asked the ceiling. Mitaka confirmed that he would, then muted his microphone again.

“He didn’t seem surprised that you could kick me in the balls when you were pinned on your front.”

Hux let his face twist into a smug smile. “I’ve always been flexible, I can get my ankle behind my head as well. In both directions.”

“I wouldn’t ever tell anyone else that,” Kylo said after a moment’s contemplation.

“Funny, Dopheld said the same. I suppose you might as well try to explain this thought blocking concept again,” Hux conceded. “Since there seems to be plenty of time for me to try to understand in.”

* * *

Water didn’t work. Hux had spent the first few years of his life in the rainy Arkanis climate, but he’d barely stepped foot on a planet since then. His understanding of elemental power was academic at best- Kylo could push through it like mist.

Ice was a little better. Hux knew the power ice had to ruin ships inside and out, and the value of meteors that were rich in the resource, but Kylo’s saber melted all in its path.

Fire died without oxygen.

Plants were a mystery to Hux and no matter how Kylo explained the concept of the world tree he couldn’t grasp it.

Mitaka told them the two hours were up, but they barely acknowledged him.

A fleet of ships with a full complement of TIEs fell into the gravity well of a planet more massive than Hux could even comprehend.

Stone a thousand miles thick gave way to all the elements Hux had been unable to properly imagine before.

The structural compounds of half a dozen elements stood strong for a while, but died as Hux lost his grip on infinity.

In the quarantine chamber the lights went out. Night fell.

Kylo stood in a cold dark hangar. 

Rust marred the few circles of decking revealed by the fitful illumination. 

Somewhere coolant was leaking with a sickly dripping sound.

A boy was watching him, barely six years old, hollow eyed and straight backed despite his tattered uniform. He had red hair, slicked back with Imperial precision.

“Hux?”

The boy blinked, and stepped back into the shadows. 

Footsteps rang on the grating but they made no sense. Kylo couldn’t follow them. 

A sharp pain, like a vibroblade slipping between his ribs. 

He surfaced from the mental link, gasping.

* * *

Hux stared into the darkness, unsure if he’d won. He was alone in his own mind for the first time in hours- that had to count.

What was strong, and always with him? 

Himself.

“Perfect,” Kylo muttered from across the room.

The air moved slightly and then Kylo was sitting beside him, pressed thigh-to-thigh. Hux found he didn’t mind all that much.

“That’s perfect,” Kylo said again, reverence seeping into the words like he was truly impressed. “You’re perfect. I wish… I wish I had that strength of self-knowledge.”

Hux hummed. He was pleased with the praise, even if he hated himself a little for it. When had he last heard anything like that without a tinge of resentment or professional jealousy marring the words?

He turned his head, uncertain in the dark, but his lips found the corner of Kylo’s mouth on the very first try.

“Thank you,” he said quietly as Kylo’s breath ghosted over his face in a silent rush. He kissed him again, ignoring the chapped sharpness of Kylo’s lips to focus only on the warmth behind them. “Thank you for showing me.”

Kylo’s hands settled hot and huge on either side of his face, cradling his jawline and cheekbones in a delicate touch he had never imagined Kylo capable of until now. 

A kiss against his lips, the bridge of his nose, his brow. Then Kylo was gone again, leaving his skin to protest the cold left behind in every place where their skin had been touching.

“Good night, Armitage.” 

Hux lay back on his bunk, his mind oddly empty.

“Good night, Kylo.”

* * *

Morning. Protein. Wash. Stare into the reflective panel over the sink and try to work out how the hell he was going to talk to Kylo about the kiss the night before.

Hux found no answered in his own reflection, just the fact that he needed a shave and his teeth were probably disgusting. He ran his thumbnail idly over the bristles on his cheeks, wishing not for the first time that the regulations might allow him to keep more than just the sideburns.

The thought wasn’t even slightly helpful for the question at hand.

He didn’t actually dislike the man, even if he’d never have believed that statement a few days ago. Without a source of stress Kylo was almost genial, and able to hold the most interesting conversations. He’d readily helped Hux more than once in the last few days, and he genuinely seemed to enjoy sharing his knowledge.

Was that enough to consider a relationship? Or was Hux going mad and assigning far too much importance to a few moments of contact?

While Hux debated with himself, Kylo appeared suddenly at his shoulder, reaching past him to take great handfuls of water from the running faucet. He drank them messily until his own chest and Hux’ arm were dripping wet.

Hux took a handful of water for himself, and flicked it into Kylo’s face.

“Sirs!” Mitaka said warningly over the intercom. Hux idly wondered if the Lieutenant knew they’d kissed.

A deep rumble sounded somewhere to the aft of the ship. 

The two men froze in place while above them Mitaka could be heard asking someone else what was going on. 

Three further ominous noises rattled through the decking under their feet before a slowly descending whine seemed to come from every direction at once.

Hux sighed and covered his face with his hands. “Lieutenant, please tell me that wasn’t what I think it was…”

“Ummm… I’ll have to get back to you, Sir.” Mitaka said with a failed attempt at diplomacy. 

Kylo tipped his head. It was clear he was listening intently, but his hands had also lifted from his sides a little as if he were feeling the air. 

“The…”

“Main engines have gone,” Hux finished for him. “Yes, I know, I heard that too.”

“You could tell that just from the sound?”

Hux pushed past him and headed back toward his bunk. “When you grow up on a ship with frequent system failures you learn to recognise them almost like second nature.”

“Good point. I could probably spot a Corellian freighter with a bad power converter from half a lightyear away.” Kylo mused. “What does that mean for us?”

“Well if Helne was a sensible man who knew his ship as well as he knows his tailor, then it’d mean two hours of discomfort while the atmospherics were disabled long enough to jump the system. But he isn’t…”

“Sirs, I have some bad news,” Mitaka announced.

“... He’s going to cut the climate control by only half and take the twenty four hour route to restarting the engines.”

That made Mitaka suck in a surprised breath, even if it meant nothing to Ren. 

“How did you know, Sir?”

Hux just shook his head. “It’s Helne, Lieutenant.”

“What does that mean for us?” Kylo asked.

“It’s going to get very, very cold.”

* * *

He’d grown up in the these conditions. He was hardened to it. Immune.

Or he would have been, if he weren’t naked or sleeping on a bare plasteel bed without the most basic of resources. 

How many times had he gone to sleep as a child wearing a sweater stolen from Rae’s quarters, or huddled with half a dozen other children under any fabric scraps they could find?

He’d have welcomed even the most grease stained, battle ruined flight suit right about now.

Dopheld had asked for some kind of provision to be made for them, but the regulations were clear. No one was going to risk an outbreak even if it were for the sake of a General and the Supreme Leader’s right hand man.

Kylo lay on the other bunk, his knees tucked towards his chest and his lips moving in an endless litany of silent words. He wasn’t shivering like Hux, but he didn’t look comfortable.

Whatever his training with Snoke and the Knights of Ren had involved, Hux couldn’t imagine it involving a great deal of asking for help. His own life experience certainly hadn’t, not after the academy. 

Still, it seemed stupid and illogical to sit so far apart in such an empty room and let all their body heat drain away into the air.

Hux wasn’t one to share a bed with anyone so soon, but he couldn’t shake the memory of how warm and pleasant Kylo’s lips had been against his own. His brain seemed obsessed with it like another man might dream of starting a fire.

“Ren? May I make a suggestion?”

* * *

 

Hux woke slowly, warm and comfortable where Kylo’s arm was slung heavily around his waist. He could feel the evenness of his breathing against his back, but it wasn’t the pattern of sleep.

It was strange how quickly he’d become familiar with the habits of Kylo’s presence. 

The initial idea of sharing body heat had been a sound one, but the actual process of doing so had been embarrassing to say the least. 

At first Kylo had suggested that they lay chest-to-chest to conserve heat. The position had been a nightmare of awkward eye contact and bruised knees. It was too intimate, especially given the inelegant press of genitals and body hair. 

Hux had ended up with the huttlet comparison in his head again. That was an image that was not helped when the organ in question began to twitch with unintentional arousal. Kylo had apologised as if he’d committed the greatest offence, and Hux found he couldn’t stand to hear that tone in his voice.

It had taken an effort of will for Hux to swallow down his own innate embarrassment. He’d turned his back on Kylo and shuffled across the plasteel until his spine was pressed firmly to that broad chest. 

Kylo had frozen for a moment before he got the hint and carefully placed his hand on Hux’ hip. 

That had felt stranger than anything else. 

Usually it was Hux who held his partners like this, not the other way around. 

He’d always dated men who were shorter- if not smaller- than him, so it felt strange to be the one who was embraced. Still, there was certainly no denying that Kylo was the broader of the two. 

Their initial encounter in the shower had replayed anxiously in Hux’ mind at first. Ren had seemed so certain then that Hux would want to fuck him, and this new position did seem a little like offering himself up. But for Hux it had never been a sexual arrangement of limbs- even if Kylo’s penis was now resting against the crack of his arse.

He’d kept that frame of mind at the forefront of his thoughts- comfortable, platonic, reassuring, warm, loving- as they’d settled down and begun to drift to sleep. It seemed to have worked. Kylo had relaxed against him and begun to snore within minutes.

Hux had thought he was being clever but now he’d woken up with an uncomfortable thought. 

“Kylo?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you know if your emotions are your own? How can you ever know whether you want someone or not if you’re automatically swept up in their desires by proximity? How do you know that a lack of desire wouldn’t influence you in the same way?” 

He almost wanted to add ‘how can you even know if you like someone if you can never have an emotion of your own’ but something stopped the words from passing his lips.

His skin prickled as he felt the warmth of Kylo’s sigh and the fluttering of his eyelashes against the back of his neck. It felt right, but he suddenly wasn’t sure he could trust that impression.

Silence stretched out for so long that Hux would have thought Kylo was asleep if his calloused thumb hadn’t been tracing slow patterns along his ribs.

Dry lips pressed briefly to the hollow behind his ear. “I suppose I’d have to walk away from them and see it stayed with me,” Kylo whispered.

The silence returned. 

This time nothing broke it but snoring.

* * *

 

The shower wasn’t nearly as nerve-racking the second time around. 

Partially because they’d finally received the all clear from the ship’s medical officer and partly because standing so close to Kylo seemed like second nature now. But mostly because Hux was so desperate to be properly clean for the first time in five days that he barely even cared about his dignity any more.

Barely, but still a little. 

Mitaka stood in the corner of the antechamber with his eyes screwed shut and their uniforms held out at arm's length. There was also a shaving kit in one of the Lieutenant’s trembling hands. 

Kylo took the objects from him and murmured a sharp ‘dismissed’. Only Hux heard the ‘before you fall down’ that Kylo tacked on to the end. Dopheld had looked like hell, it was a mercy to send him away, but not one Hux would have expected from Ren’s public persona. 

While he shaved Kylo dressed slowly behind him, humming the tune of one of the songs Dopheld used to sing to himself. It made the whole scene far more domestic than Hux would normally have liked. 

Their surjoin from duty was over. Hux had a mountain of work to tackle, and a negligent Commander to have executed. Ren no doubt had something that needed to be attended to, though Hux couldn’t imagine what… 

Regardless, he should not be finding the casual presence of his co-commander so soothing. And yet he did. Just as he had always done in the past with the other men in his life. Was Ren  _ in _ his life?

A warm gloved hand settled on his shoulder. Kylo was holding out Hux’ tunic, his own helmet hanging easily from his pinky finger. 

Hux tugged the tunic on with his usual swift precise movements, carefully fastening the catches, and trying to ignore the intense gaze that watched his every gesture. 

He’d barely finished adjusting his belt when his chin was caught between thumb and forefinger. 

Despite the old blood smell from the leather, he welcomed the kiss without a moment’s hesitation. He even swayed forward just a touch when Kylo pulled away again. 

The helmet seals hissed slightly in the silence between them as Ren locked it into place. 

Hux saw himself reflected in the visor for just an instant, then Kylo Ren was at the door. 

“Well, General,” he said in the odd static-marred growl of his vocoder. “I’m walking away. I’ll let you know what I find.”


	2. Epilogue

“Ren, it’s the middle of the night,” Hux said in a tone that aimed for peevishness but was ruined by a yawn. “You’ve never been this eager to debrief after a mission in your life.”

He was leaning against the doorframe, barely awake and barely dressed in his hastily slung on robe. For anyone else Hux would have been livid about the intrusion, but something had changed between him and his co-commander since their stay in quarantine. He always felt more comfortable speaking to him in his nightwear than in his uniform. It was ridiculous.

Kylo Ren stood silently in the corridor, his arms folded over his chest, an odd rumbling noise coming from his mask. 

“Well? What’s wrong with you?”

“Hux… I need your help.”

The narrowing of his eyes wasn’t entirely voluntary, but Hux really didn’t like the idea of early morning requests for help. It sounded like the beginning of some cheesy holo romance.

“Ask one of the officers that are actually on shift.” He snapped, and turned to close the door. 

“Meeew!”

He turned back.

“Maow!”

There was a ginger kitten staring at him from amongst the folders of Ren’s cowl. One of his massive gloved hands was resting on her head, making her seem smaller than she looked, but even so she was clearly very young.

“Where did you find her?” Hux asked, reaching out to take the bundle of fluff before he’d even realised he was moving. 

“The temple.” Kylo’s Knights had been tasked with finding an old Jedi artifact that Hux hadn’t paid much attention to, though he knew it was on a safe planet, quarantine wise. 

The kitten protested as Hux inspected her, but quieted when Kylo put his hand on her head again. 

“You have to take her back, she’s too small to be away from her mother.”

“I found her trying to wake her mother. There’d been a ceiling collapse. She was the only survivor.”

Hux sighed. “Fine. Come in then.” 

He walked away with the kitten tucked against his chest. His last cat had died of advanced old age, he might still have some of the specialist food for her in his kitchenette. 

Kylo sat at the counter, his mask by his side, and began to describe the details of the mission in that odd halting way he had whenever he talked about combat. 

For his part Hux only half listened while he pottered around the space, hunting out bowls and trays and bedding that the kitten could use for now. She stayed against his chest, purring loudly, while he unthinkingly opened another cupboard and placed a mug under the caf machine just as Kylo activated it with the Force without a break in his dialogue. 

Food followed. Dry cereals for him, protein mess for Kylo, and diluted cat food for the kitten. 

It was only as he was sitting down in his own place at the counter that Hux realised he and Ren hadn’t spoken a word to one another about breakfast, yet they’d worked together to make it. Apparently they’d both come to the conclusion that sleep wasn’t going to happen and they might as well start the day.

He blushed slightly, confused and a little embarrassed. 

Between them the kitten stood swishing her bottlebrush tail, eating with a messy ‘myam myam myam’ noise that filled the silence when Kylo began to eat.

The whole scene felt oddly domestic, and calm in a way he didn’t usually experience. Not since that week in quarantine anyway. 

Hux breathed slowly. He let his mental walls relax just enough to project his sense of comfort with the situation. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but given the stress of the mission that Kylo had just described, perhaps the other man needed it.

“I thought about what you said,” Kylo said suddenly, his face mostly hidden by his hair as he focused on his food. “About attraction, and feeling it through other people.”

That wasn’t where Hux had expected this conversation to go, but he said nothing.

Kylo continued. “Between missions I’ve been going off ship, to isolated places where I can’t hear another mind for miles, and then I’ve been thinking about what I wanted. I tried to picture the people I’ve fucked in the past. I watched holos- romance and porn and other popular things. I even imagined you, naked, like you were in quarantine, when we spent that night together for warmth…”

Now they were both blushing and staring uncomfortably at their spoons.

“I… I don’t want to have sex. With you. Or with anyone else. I need to work on my mental barriers so I don’t get carried along by other people’s lust like I was before. That wasn’t me wanting, that was them.”

Hux reached out to cover Kylo’s gloved hand with one of his own. The kitten saw the movement and padded over to rub her cheeks against the men’s fingers.

“But I do enjoy talking to you. When you’re not being a prick on the bridge. I…” Kylo’s voice got quieter then. “I liked kissing you. And holding you. You’re so delicate it’s like holding spun glass. I like… this. What we’re doing now. What we did in quarantine- talking, training, existing next to one another.”

“I’ll ignore the ‘prick’ comment for now…” Hux began.

“Or you could just stop arguing with me…”

“You’d have to start being right first…”

“Fuck you!”

“MAAAAOOOW!!”

They both laughed as the kitten screamed her protests at the ceiling.

“I guess you don’t want your daddies to fight, eh little one?”

Kylo gave that odd gasping snort of his. “Hux, that word doesn’t mean what you think it means. Not any more.”

“Oh shut up.”

* * *

The room was dark but for the ever present glow of the desk terminal.

Hux sat in silhouette, his narrow shoulders bare and shifting slightly as his fingers danced across the keyboard. To his left, half a dozen empty cups of caf, to his right their cat Millicent curled into a crescent and gently dozing.

He hummed when chapped lips brushed against his temple. Calloused hands closed over the curve of his shoulders, dry and dusty from hours of weight training. 

“Good session?”

“Mmmmm,” Kylo rumbled, his nose pressed against Hux’ freshly washed hair. “Come to bed.”

On the desk Millicent mewed and stretched, as if the invitation had been extended to her and not the other human at all. She padded imperiously up the arm Kylo offered her to settle in the hollow of his collarbone, waiting to be conveyed across the room like a queen being carried on a litter. She of all beings truly knew her place in the universe.

Hux stood and stretched, his spine popping loudly after hours of inaction. He’d have to ask Kylo for one of those deep massages he did so well, but perhaps another day. 

It was time for bed, and Kylo didn’t like to be kept waiting after all. 


End file.
